Episode 017

Welcome to "Experience in Golf Clubhouse Design", a podcast that delves into the world of golf clubhouse architecture and interior design, uncovering the fascinating intricacies of human interaction and its profound impact on member lifestyles. Let's immerse ourselves in the realm of architecture, exploring the concepts and details that pave the way for a successful golf clubhouse and resort experience, from proshop design to fitness and dining. In today's episode, we'll cover examining the evolution of golf clubhouse design, discussing trends and innovations that have shaped the industry.

Hey there! Today, we're going to take a trip down memory lane and dive into the fascinating world of golf clubhouse design. We'll be exploring how these spaces have evolved over the years and the trends that have shaped the industry. So, grab your clubs and let's get started! Back in the day, golf clubhouses were more than just a place to grab a cold drink after a round. They were often lavish resorts, with grand architecture and stunning views. These historical clubhouses, with their ornate designs and opulent interiors, were symbols of prestige and luxury. I wanted to dive into an interesting article I found on the subject. This article is from scottish golf history. It's called the Oldest 19th hole. The article covers some of the oldest and most prestigious clubs. So let's dive into it.

Club-houses of oldest golf clubs and early golf club-houses.

Part 1

The club-house buildings of the Royal Musselburgh, Royal Blackheath, and Glasgow golf clubs, whose clubhouse buildings are of historic interest in their own right.  The club-houses of the other old clubs are covered below in order of the date of the oldest extant club-house at the location. 

The concept of a golf club took over a century to develop. Club-house facilities were not initially an essential part of their thinking. What was important was dining (and drinking) afterwards, mostly in local hostelries, of which the notable extant pubs are covered here in Part II Oldest 19th Hole Golf Pubs, Inns and Taverns. (which we will get to later

Almost all the club-houses of the old golf societies date from the middle to the end of the 19th century. Most look like private houses, not just because everything was built as a house in those days, but also to make them easy to sell if the club failed. The significant investment required to build a club-house frequently resulted in heated discussions, especially in the artisan clubs. Sometimes, a 'new' club had to be formed by those willing to contribute to a clubhouse, if the majority of members were disinclined to do so. For this reason, some successor clubs owe their existence, and even their name, to the provision of the club-house facility. So their history is more interesting than just a list of buildings and dates.

Bruntsfield Links The longest serving golf club-house building in the world is the Golf Tavern at Bruntsfield Links. It has been in continuous use as a club-house since Jan 1852, by several clubs including Bruntsfield Links GS, Bruntsfield Allied GC, Edinburgh Thistle and Bruntsfield Short Hole GC. It was never owned by any of them. The Golf Tavern is the overlapping successor to Golfhall, where club golf began. Golfhall, under various names, had been a golf club-house continuously since July 1760 until Sept 1905. These clubhouses are now the subject of a new history published in 2017.

St Andrews

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews didn't build their own club-house until 1854, exactly 100 years after they were formed. It is the oldest club-house in continuous use owned by a golf club. It has subsequently been significantly extended and developed.

For two decades beforehand, they had used a building called the Union Parlour on Golf Place in common with other golfers. It has long since been demolished.

The other golf clubs in St Andrews did not acquire their club-houses until the beginning of the 20th century. The New Club (St Andrews) bought their's in Links Road for £1,300 in 1902. In fact, getting a club-house was the reason why they were formed. The building is best known as the place where Old Tom Morris died in 1908 following a tragic accidental fall.

The St Andrews Golf Club, formerly the Mechanics, bought their Kirk Place club-house a few years later in 1905.

Monifieth Monifieth has a beautiful row of club-houses, all facing the links and recently modernised. They were built on land acquired from the Panmure Hotel between 1903-07. Before these were built, there were two others. The first was a club-house constructed by the railway near the station, which is now gone.

The second clubhouse still exists. It was built in 1871 by the Panmure Golf Club, Monifieth's first golf club, in Princes Street, behind the other club-houses and it is now used by the Ladies Panmure Golf Club. The Ladies club itself was not founded until 1893, but they inherited the old club-house when the Panmure club went north to create a new course at Barry in 1899. This is the third oldest extant golf club-house found so far after The Golf Tavern and the R&A club-house.

Because of falling membership, the other three clubs in Monifieth are now discussing a club-house amalgamation. Which one(s) will be left is not yet known.

Musselburgh

Apart from the Royal Musselburgh club, who began there, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, the Royal Burgess and the Bruntsfield Links clubs all built club-houses at Musselburgh.

The club-houses of the Royal Musselburgh, Hon Company and Bruntsfield Links have now found other uses outlined here.

The Royal Burgess club-house is still in use as golf club-house. It was built in 1875 at the top of Links Place, now Balcarres Road. After the Burgess left in 1895, it became a café and later a dental practice. In 1993 the Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club purchased it and have been there ever since. As it has only been a golf club-house for about 45 years out of its 140 years existence, it still has 15 years to go to match the length of use as a golf club-house of the Honourable Company's.

Perth The present club-house of the Royal Perth Golfing Society was purchased in 1875, prior to which they used various addresses in the town including the House on the Green at 3 Waterside, which dates back to 1788 and is now converted into flats.

Elie and Earlsferry The Golf Club-House Club at Elie completed the first part of their present clubhouse in 1877. Elie is one of those places where there was a club formed specially to build a club-house. Hence the rather unusual club name. The club members had previously used the golf club-makers' sheds in the car park to store their clubs and the Golfers Tavern on Links Road (now called the 19th Hole) for eating and drinking. Earlsferry is a very old golf course and it is an odd-but-true fact that this is the oldest club-house, owned by the club that also owns its course. 

North Berwick The golfers at North Berwick initiated their first golf club with play on the west links 1832. They used marquees on competition days and the hospitality of the Dalrymple Arms 10 Quality Street, (now Zitto, an Italian wine bar.) The present club-house, which the North Berwick Golf Club acquired on merger with the New Club (North Berwick), dates to 1880.

The Tantallon Golf Club also based here have their own club-house just behind North Berwick's. They used marquees on competition days as well. It was Robert Chambers, as Captain, who first suggested in 1884 that they should sell the club tent and get a club-house, but it was not until 1896 that they bought Point Garry Cottage, 32 Westgate, North Berwick.

Wimbledon In London, the club-house of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club pre-dates the lease on their present location. In 1880, they were given notice to quit the Iron Hut that they had been using since 1871. They got a temporary lease on Mrs Croft's Cottage nearby, where they built a new 'iron hut'.

Two years later, they got the opportunity to lease their present premises at Camp Cottage. When they moved they dismantled the 2nd iron hut at Mrs Croft's and reassembled it at Camp Cottage, where it is now the Old Dining Room. So although the lease on their present club-house began in 1882, the club-house dates to 1880!

Wimbledon is one of the places where club-house problems shaped history, as it contributed to the schism which had taken place between the London Scottish and Royal Wimbledon.

The London Scottish did not build their own club-house until 1897.

Aberdeen Aberdeen golf began in Aberdeen, further south than where Royal Aberdeen play today. The Club moved over the river to their present Balgownie course in 1888, leaving the other clubs playing the King's Links, about half a mile north of where golf first began. The early meeting places were the usual pubs - Masson's in Queen Street and later the Humphrey Hotel in Castle Street, now gone. The golfers kept their clubs at the club-maker's shop in Constitution Street, located on the way to the course. Some time later they built a club-house at the top of Constitution Street, whose location can be seen on the map here beside the 18th green. It is now a house.

Carnoustie Although they were not the first club formed at Carnoustie, the Dalhousie club built the first club-house in 1868. It was a magnificent feature on Links Parade. Sadly, the building was demolished in 1997 and the site is now occupied by four blocks of apartments.

The oldest extant club-house is that of Carnoustie Caledonia. In 1889, they spent £600 to build half of the present club-house (the 'east-most' half). It was a lot of money for an artisan club, so they designed it as a house to be able to sell it easily if the club fell into financial difficulties.  They need not have worried. The club prospered and three years last they spent another £600 building the other half.

Carnoustie Ladies' present clubhouse was designed in 1895 and constructed at a cost of £510. The oldest club at Carnoustie is the Carnoustie Golf Club, but it was the last to start building a club-house in 1898. It has been considerably modernised to be present club-house on Links parade.

Leven The old Innerleven club, now part of Leven, decided to move away from their Dubbieside course in 1868. To begin with they kept their clubs in the workshop of the local golf club-maker, Alex Patrick. They did not start the present club-house building until 1894. This was later taken over by the merged Leven golf clubs.

Scotscraig Although the course at Scotscraig dates to 1817, the club went into abeyance for many years and, when they reformed, they used the local 'fever' hospital as their club-house. The present club-house only dates back to 1896.  

Burntisland The Dodhead course at Burntisland was not completed until 1898, and, as at Elie and North Berwick, there was a club formed specially to build the club-house, hence the name of the club, Burntisland Golf House Club. Unusually, the original Burntisland Golf Club still operates independently. In the early days, when the golfers played on the town links they would have used local pubs and one of these, The Star Pub at 73 High Street, dates to 17th century. (The date of The Golf Tavern on Burntisland Links has not been ascertained.)

Dunbar At Dunbar, the present club-house was a major investment for the club in 1902. Before that, they were the fortunate recipients of the largesse of the Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe who provided the first clubhouse in 1871. The building is now a private house just on the right at the entrance to the course.

Montrose Montrose is the only town with more golf club-houses that Musselburgh. There are eleven and you will need a map and a guide to find them all. Only two of them are in current use - Royal Montrose Mercantile and Caledonia - and they are located close to each other at the first tee, with another five previous club-houses nearby. Additionally, there are four others scattered throughout the town.

The oldest current club-house is the Royal Montrose at 1906. The Caledonia (1975) is just round the corner and three previous club-houses are situated just to the south - Mercantile Golf Lodge (1891),  Victoria Roo's Leap (1895) and Mercantile (1904). 

To begin with, the Montrose golfers met in the Star Inn, which still exists as the Star Hotel in New Wynd off the High Street. In 1866, the golfers rented Southfield House from the Council, before buying or building their own club-houses. Southfield became part of a private house, situated across Traill Drive from the Royal Montrose club-house and just seen in the picture above.

The old Caledonia golf house (1901) is just up Dorwood Road. To find the other former club-houses you need to go about half a mile south.

Gullane It is an irony that if the Gullane golfers had held on to their first Golf Tavern, now a house beside the visitors' car park, it would today be the oldest golf pub and club-house in the world. Instead of having the oldest, their present clubhouse is one of the youngest and only dates to 1929 when they redeveloped the site of the old Ladies club-house and land they owned to build a joint club-house.

In between these two club-houses, they built the Old Clubhouse, which they used from 1890 to 1929. It is now one of the best known and patronised golf pubs in the region.

Part 2

Most golf courses in the world are public. Only a third belong to private clubs, and this reflects the beginnings of golf when the Links were free to play and hospitality was in a local inn or tavern. There are many pubs in Scotland which call themselves a golf pub though few are as old as they look.

The most famous golf pub is, or rather was, Mrs Forman's built in 1822 by George Forman's father, who was the initial landlord. Later George himself took over and on his death in 1843, his widow Marion Forman ran it until her own death in 1888. It was during this period that it acquired its name and world wide fame in golfing circles. It is now closed and its future is currently in doubt.

That leaves a vacancy for the oldest golf pub in the world.

The Golf Tavern at Bruntsfield Links is certainly the longest serving golf club-house as there have been golf clubs using it continuously since 1852. It is a continuation of Golfhall which dates back to 1717. This means there has been a licensed pub and golf-clubhouse 'on this site' continuously since 1760. You can play golf there with clubs supplied by the pub. So it will be a bidder to be the oldest 19th hole, but there are other contenders, though they are either not as old or they do not have a continuous history to match 'Mrs Forman's' or 'The Golf Tavern'. A complete history of Golfhall and The Golf Tavern was published in 2017.

Earlsferry (Elie) Before the Elie clubs built their clubhouse in 1877 they used the Golfers' Tavern at 5 Links Road for their hospitality. Now called the 19th Hole, the building appears on the 1853 Ordnance Survey and the name, the Golfers' Tavern, is shown on the 1893 map.

It was probably being used by the golfers shortly before or after the formation of the Elie and Earlsferry Golf Club in 1858. In the decades before this, the golfers of Earlsferry had combined with the Hercules Club who played the Dumbarnie Links. They had their own club-house, and used Mrs Ronald's Inn in Colinsburgh.

Crail The Golf Hotel in Crail is where the Crail Golf Club first met in 1786. Although never their club-house, it was used for post-match hospitality when they played at nearby Sauchope, now a caravan park.

The Crail club went into abeyance intermittently partly because of access problems at Sauchope, which was too small in any case. They moved to the Balcomie Links, 2 miles outside Crail, in 1895 and thereafter had a club-house there to use.

The Golf Hotel building dates to circa 1721 and is still open as a hotel, bar and restaurant.  It may not have been in continuous use by the golfers, but this is certainly the oldest extant building where the oldest golf related event took place. Its only other claim to golf fame is the place where the landlord lost two of the club's ballot boxes.

Montrose Early golfers at Montrose are recorded, from 1818, as frequenting the Star Hotel in New Wynd in Montrose. This was close to the first tee of the old Mid-links, which fell out of use as the land was built on and the links were pushed north. The golfers were probably still using it for dining even after they leased the Southfield House in 1866 to keep their clubs, until they built their own club-houses at the end of the century.

North Berwick Golf at North Berwick was first played on the east links, but this area was needed for development. In 1832, they initiated their golf club with play on the west links. To begin with, they used marques on competition days and the hospitality of the Dalrymple Arms 10 Quality Street, which is now Zitto, an Italian wine bar.

Prestwick The Red Lion at The Cross in Prestwick is renown as the place where the inaugural meeting took place in 1851 of the Prestwick Golf Club, who would become world famous as the initiators of the Open championship and co-sponsors of the Claret Jug, still played for today. Soon after the club built a club-house opposite. The pub itself is in need of some care and attention.

Gullane 'The Old Clubhouse' on East Links Road in Gullane was originally built as a half-timbered club-house by the Gullane Golf Club and opened in April 1890. It was soon extended.  

After the Gullane Golf Club moved across town in 1929 to their present club-house, the building was used for various purposes. It is now a pub, again serving golfers since the present owners took over in 1988.

So, it's clear that golf clubhouse design has some strong history. From opulent resorts to charming pubs, clubhouses are steeped in history and continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of golfers. It's exciting to see what the future holds for these iconic spaces! In this episode, we dove into the history of some golf clubhouses, exploring the past to see how it might shape the industry. Thanks for tuning in, remember to subscribe for more insightful discussions, and I'll catch you at the next episode! If you have a question for the show follow us on fountain dot f m. Send us a question through the app. We look forward to hearing from you. See you in the next one.